# anonymity in moos

"Robert J. Brown" (rj@eli.wariat.org)
Mon, 15 Apr 1996 11:48:41 PDT

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    >>>>> "Jeff" == Jeff Watkins <jwatkins@primuscorp.com> writes:

        Jeff> Another reason I would hesitate to make Email addresses
        Jeff> readable is it just doesn't mimic real life. If I run into
        Jeff> someone in RL and make an ass of myself (intentionally or
        Jeff> otherwise) I can console myself with, "At least (s)he
        Jeff> doesn't know how to get in touch with me." If you make email
        Jeff> addresses readable, this wont be true.

        Jeff> Also, in RL if I wan't some one to be able to contact me
        Jeff> other than face to face, I have to GIVE them my email
        Jeff> address or telephone number.

        Jeff> As an experiment, try walking around town with a big sign
        Jeff> that reads:

        Jeff> 	My Telephone Number is: xxx:xxx.xxxx (insert your
        Jeff> number here)

        Jeff> I know I wouldn't do that AND I'M NOT A WEIRDO. Really.

    This is true in general, but not all MOOs are fun and games.  Some
    operate like a club, instead of a street corner, some like a
    classroom, and some like a corporate conference room.

    While what you say is true of a street corner, it is definately not
    true of these other scenarios.  If you want to run gutterMOO to
    emulate a street corner in Wrong-side-of-the-tracks-ville, the you can
    expect to meet some pretty undesirable characters, and you would want
    to maintain your anonymity.

    On the other hand, if you are teaching a class, you need to know who
    the students are, and generally the students know each other.
    Likewise and more so for the corporate conference or board room!

    The administrator of a MOO must know or decide what kind of an
    environment that they want or need to maintain, and operate
    accordingly.  The comment about young children keeping anonymous for
    safety reasons is well taken.  It is also required that in other
    situations, that everyone know who everyone else it, right down to
    email addresses.

    --
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    Robert Jay Brown III  rj@eli.wariat.org  http://eli.wariat.org  1 847 705-0370
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